GEN.ERA: diGital gENomic Alliance to Explore new maRket for Acceleration
This project has received funding from the European Union’s COSME program under grant agreement No 951197
Duration: 1.9.2020–31.8.2022
Project partners: GIP Genopole (France), Distretto Tecnologicio Campania Biososcience Scarl (Italy), Tartu Biotechnology Park OÜ (Estonia), East Netherlands Development Agency Oost NL (Netherland) ja Turku Science Park Oy
Funding: COSME (Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs)
Project in a nutshell: GEN.ERA is a project where five EU life Sciences clusters and agency partners join and share their international competences and know-how to improve the scale-up of European start-ups and SMEs involved in the genomics value chain apply to healthcare, by a facilitated and successful collective access to a targeted global market. Genomics is the study of the complete set of DNA within an individual. Knowledge of individuals’ genetic make-up can help to understand their predisposition toward certain genetic diseases, inform the best course of prevention and treatment and contribute to precision medicine, gene therapies and so on. Today, genomics promises to change the way healthcare is delivered and patient lives and life expectancy improved. European SMEs in the genomics/engineering sector benefit from a solid international reputation, indeed it benefit from undeniable assets, in particular high-quality health data, strong public support for research and an efficient educational system. However, the sector remains geographically and sectorically fragmented. For SMEs offering niche technologies for specific industrial sectors or value chains, internationalization is the most efficient strategy to achieve high growth, and GENERA’s mission is to bring them into promising new international markets outside of EU. Moreover our proposal aims to stimulate the ecosystem as a whole, and will impact positively partners that can be integrated in our value chain such as academic, investors, industrial and health stakeholders.
Contact person in Turku Science Park Ltd: Teppo Laaksonen